Treatment of urban wastewater by coupling planted filters with anodic oxidation process

ABSTRACT

The wastewater reuse strategy has the advantage of providing an effective resource to reduce water deficits, protect natural resources and alleviate future water shortages caused by climate change. In many arid and semi-arid regions, water reuse provides the majority of irrigation water, which is why appropriate treatment techniques are needed. These include planted filters, with restricted reuse of agricultural treated water. The main innovation is therefore to develop a new technique with reduced operating costs and increased efficiency for wastewater treatment that can be used in different sectors (household, industrial, washing centers…). The current work aimed to assess the performance of coupling planted Filters with anodic oxidation on platinum to remove contaminants and pathogens from urban wastewater effluents. To evaluate the efficiency of this hybrid process, urban sewage was first treated by filters planted with reeds, then by anodic oxidation on platinum using photovoltaic panels. Results showed that this treatment system allows a complete elimination of organic matter, ammonium nitrogen, and pathogenic bacteria. Removal rates were ~ 100% for COD, ~100% for BOD, ~100% for NH₄⁺, 93.24% for NO₃⁻, and ~100% for TC, FC, and FS. Due to the satisfactory performance, treated water can be reused without restriction in different sectors.

KEYWORDS:

• Anodic oxidation
• Coupling
• Planted filters
• Platinum
• Urban wastewater treatment

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Sustainable Development Collective of Gabès for the financial support.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Statement of novelty

The novelty of this study is the coupling of two processes, one is biological (vertical flow reed filters) and the other is electrochemical (advanced oxidation on platinum) to achieve a total removal of pollutants that constitute urban wastewater.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the The Sustainable Development Collective of Gabès.